Zuppa di patata con delle cipolle soffocate

Here to report that one more recipe has been accomplished and put into the repertoire of the dishes i can now make: Potato Soup with Smothered Onion -aka Zuppa di patata con cipolla soffocata or"comfort in a bowl". (hahha, don't things sound better in italian???)

this is another one for those of you who love the mashed potatoes during thanksgiving that have the creaminess of butter and the flavour of onions -yum.

this one actually went down SUPER WELL! without mishaps and without stress. result - absolutely deliciously creamy soup. granted that it took me the better part of an evening, the results were well worth it. i now have homemade soup ready to defrost whenever i need an instant meal.

the basic premises of the soup are 3 ingredients and time: potato, onions and broth (oh, and of course butter) become best friends over the better part of an hour then get squished together to help the creaminess of the soup. the cool this about this is that it doesn't call for a food mill, just a wooden spoon.

some suggestions i'd have for this recipe are:
- cut the amount of butter and oil in half: personally, it was just a little too rich for me
- if you don't have homemade broth, use your favourite canned or cubed beef broth. i think what marcella was going for here was that it should be rather light as you don't want that flavour to over power that of the onions and potatoes

some considerations when making it:
- this recipe takes a while to make and shouldn't be rushed. do it on a lazy saturday or sunday afternoon and make some other stuff (like potato gnocchi!!) while waiting
- when going in to squish the potatoes, wear your dishwashing glove and avoid the possibility of getting burnt with the splashes
- if squishing annoys you, you can always pull out a potato masher (if you have one) and go for a chunky consistency; this is faster, but be sure that the soup isn't bubbling when you do it otherwise you'll definitely get burnt

ok, that's it! hope you enjoy!
(13 down, 506 to go)

p.s. i'll post photos when i can

3 down, 515 to go!

Well, after procrastinating for about a week, I finally decided to get down to make my first recipes.

As a cook, I don't usually follow recipes well. I read them, understand the big picture, then go about making the dish my way. For the intents of this project, I am trying to stick to the recipes as written - which, for someone like me, if MIGHTY difficult.

Minestrina Tricolore: potato soup with carrots and celery

after visiting Loblaws to pick up some missing ingredients (and a new heavy bottom saute pan, cover and herb bush) I peeled my potatoes, put on the water and started the boil. Woohoo!! Step 1 done without a hitch. Now on to step 2...

Onions, carrots, celery and oil are all things I am very familiar with in the kitchen. I tend to over use the OCC and under use the oil, just because I'm like that. So, when the recipe called for the complete reversal of my norm, I definitely had problems. i mean, who uses ONLY 3tbsp of OCC?!? really, com'on now! and then, on top of that, they called for BUTTER?!?! the dreaded light yellow brick that seems so familiar to my brother-in-law and sister but is almost as dreaded as the plague in my house... moral dilemma. what to do? what to do?!? but, as it WAS called for in the recipe, i went ahead and used it... AND WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MAKES!!! wow! i mean, brown butter definitely has that nutty taste that all the chefs rave about. definitely try it if you haven't.

proceeded to do the rest of the recipe without a hick-up and, before i knew it, i was done. standing in front of my very first marcella recipe. it was a strange, yet satisfying feeling. knowing that i'd conquered some of my "fears" and understood WHY it was only 3tbsp of each... it just makes the soup quite pretty.

All in all, definitely a recipe i would recommend for anyone to make, especially as the days get colder.

oh, one other thing. the recipe calls for a "food mill" but definitely don't have one (maybe at christmas? still not 100% convinced that i need one) so i used my hand blender that i stole from home, on the "ok" from my "italian mother" (she says that if one does not have a food mill or a passaverdura, one can use a food processor instead -- also something i don't have, but will hopefully be getting soon) while i have never conciously had a soup that was made specifically with a food mill, i'm going to say that it probablly turns out a little more creamy than mine did. when i looked at the soup, i was expecting velvety goodness, but i was a little dissapointed with the almost granular texture that was produced.
i think the next time i make this soup (which is definitely going to be sometime this season) i'll try passing it through a fine mesh strainer or, even better, a newly procured passaverdura.

Finocchio - 2 ways

i love fennel. i really do. usually i toss it up with a splash of fresh orange juice, white balsamic vinegar, EVOO, salt and pepper. mmm... yum. but here, they called to braise it with either EVOO or butter/Parmesan.

not wanting to make a whole bunch of stuff i may or may not like, i took the time to make 1 slice of EVOO braised fennel and 1 slice of butter/Parmesan. it paid off because while both had this beautifully creamy texture at the end, i have to say that i liked the fresh stuff the most. of the two, EVOO was better, but maybe it's because i screwed up the butter one... i don't know, but i'll might try it out again later.